Jump to content

Onoto Piston Filler As Eyedropper?


PDW

Recommended Posts

I've just bought an Onoto piston filler at an antique shop. It's a BHR pen much like the top illustration in Marshall and Oldfield, 2nd ed., p.166, except that there is only an underfeed.

 

 

The plug can be unscrewed and the rod pulled out although I've not tried to see how far it can be extracted with force. The section unscrews nicely from the barrel assembly, revealing the pointed end of the piston. I suspect that the pen has not been serviced in a long time.

 

 

Having read M+O’s description a full overhaul is well beyond my current and likely future capabilities, In any case, the mechanism will always be fragile, which does not mix well with my innate clumsiness.

 

As the section does unscrew so easily, I can envisage removing the section and using the pen as an eyedropper by dropping ink into the barrel with the section out, then refitting the section with silicone grease. This would, of course, depend on the rod/barrel seal being sound, but I’d expect to test that out after greasing the rod and working it back and forth a few times. I’d also expect to have to release the ink flow by opening the knob a touch (if I understand the mechanism correctly).

 

 

So, what do Onoto experts see as the likelihood of being able to use the pen in this way, and are there any disadvantages, for example the possibility of damage or difficulty for future repairers due to ink getting into the wrong places?

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 4
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • PDW

    2

  • lcoldfield

    1

  • RMN

    1

  • grandmia

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

I am not an Onoto expert, nor am I a repairperson.

 

But I would say that apart from your section-barrel seal you also have the piston-seal to look at. If that is not sound your pen will leak.

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You will do no harm to the pen by your proposals. As stated by RMN the crucial factor is the barrel end seal. If this is not good, the pen will not fill and it will also blob during use. Try greasing the rod well following a long soak in cold water (the water soak may make any oxidisation of the rubber appear worse, but it will do no damage).

If you fill it as an eyedropper and it writes without blobbing, try filling it using the technique I proposed in M&O for Japanese eyedroppers. This is an inconvenient filling method, but it avoids unscrewing the section and the barrel can be filled completely - something that cannot be achieved the proper Onotoo piston seals.

Laurence

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've checked the barrel end seal by filling the barrel (section out) with water and leaving it for a while, and by opening the rod out a little and putting a couple of drops of water directly on to the seal. In both cases there was no evidence of seepage. I'm letting the assembly dry out before greasing the rod and hope it'll hold.

 

I'm likely to use the pen only occasionally so I'm happy with the eyedropper method - it also means that unlike the Japanese 'piston' approach I don't have to operate the rod mechanism which feels a bit graunchy.

 

Thanks both for advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...